This section introduces aspects that may help facilitate a better understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, these statements are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is or is not prior art.
The emergence of antibiotic resistance is a notorious problem worldwide. In the United States alone, antibiotic-resistant bacteria infect at least two million people, killing 23,000 patients annually. Currently, members of the ESKAPE pathogens (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species) represent one of the most significant threats to human health as strains exhibit resistance to multiple antibiotic classes. Compounding the situation further, global reports of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) and pandrug-resistant (PDR) isolates of P. aeruginosa and A. baumannii have been increasing. The ability of these resistant pathogens to form biofilms that are highly tolerant to antibiotics further aggravates the situation, ultimately leading to persistent and recurring infections.
Aminoglycosides are a class of valuable antibiotics that are used in the treatment of several microbial infections. Aminoglycosides bind to the 16S rRNA component of the bacterial ribosome, leading to mistranslation and bacterial death. However, the worldwide epidemic of resistance to aminoglycosides, to kanamycin in particular, has diminished their widespread clinical use.
Hence, the development of therapeutic alternatives that have novel mechanisms of action are urgently needed in order to effectively address this problem.